Matthew 1,18-25
If we try and read this passage in Matthew as if for the first time then there in one over riding fact comes into focus. Jesus was born by the direct action of the Holy Spirit. This is what is of real importance here and this is what is being conveyed by Matthew. It is in essence the central fact of the whole Christmas Story. Born of the Holy Spirit. Without that fact we wouldn't have this day to celebrate.
But what does it mean? Or perhaps more importantly what did it mean to Mary and to Joseph. We you see have the advantage of living this side of the Resurrection and the Day of Pentecost. We know that Jesus lives. We know who he was and is. And we know of the power and work of the Holy Spirit.
But what about Mary and Joseph?
In the Jewish understanding of things the Holy Spirit had a very clearly defined role. It was the Holy Spirit who taught the prophets what to say; it was the Holy Spirit who taught the men of God what to do. He was the bringer of truth to men. So Jesus by being born of the Holy Spirit is to be the bringer of God's truth to men.
Jesus is the one person who can tell us what God is like. Jesus is the one person who can show us what God wants us to be. In Jesus we see what God is like and what we ought to be like.
Before Jesus came people had only the vaguest notion as to what God was actually like. It was a shadowy kind of belief half perceived and often wrong. But Jesus could if you have seen me you have seen the Father.
And what do we see in Jesus. What do we see in the baby in the manger? What do we see in the man that walked in Galilee? What do we see in the man who stretched out his arms and died for us? What do see in the glory of resurrection?
We see love. We see compassion. We see mercy. We see the purity. We see the seeker after the lost soul. We see God. In Jesus we see with an absolute clarity all that we on this earth and in this time need to know about the almighty and ever loving God.
In Jesus we have a certainty. We true humanity and goodness and obedience to the Father. By being born of the Holy Spirit Jesus is coming to tell us the truth about God and about ourselves.
The Jews also believed that the Holy Spirit enabled people to recognise the truth when they saw it.
Jesus is the one who comes to open our eyes. We walk in this sad world in ignorance and superstition. We walk in darkness. We walk a confused path. Our minds are full of fanciful notions and prejudices. But in Jesus we have the one who opens our eyes.
He has opened our eyes so that when we come to Christmas we can see clearly what the significance and purpose is in this wonderful and miraculous event. And when Jesus comes into our hearts and our minds we are transformed and for the first time in our lives we can see clearly.
From the moment Adam fell, the world had waited. Dreams had been dreamt for millennia - and now in the birth of this baby the world has hope. It was a miracle beyond our comprehension. For we can only grasp at the truth. In Jesus we have hope. We can bring to him lying in the manger our lives and lay them before him and offer to him the gift that he wants above all gifts - our hearts.
We have only one more dream. Jesus will return. And that is a dream that will one day soon become reality.
What a day to praise God!